Oregon State Senator Ted Ferrioli represents District 30. Here he speaks with members of the editorial board of The Oregonian/OregonLive, Feb. 3, 2017. Mike Zacchino/Staff (Mike Zacchino)
By Gordon R. Friedman | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Follow on Twitter on February 06, 2017 at 6:24 PM, updated February 06, 2017 at 8:49 PM

SALEM — A group of Oregon Senate Republicans have sent a letter to Capitol leaders, calling on them to convene meetings for “constructive, bipartisan conversations” on issues facing the state.

“On behalf of the Senate Republican Caucus, we wanted to reiterate our interest and willingness to work with you to craft solutions for bold, decisive action on the most critical issues facing all Oregonians,” the Senators wrote, adding that they will meet “any time and any place.”

In the letter, sent to Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, and House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, six Senate Republicans ask for meetings to hash out transportation upgrades and reform tax collection, state spending and the public pension system.

Some of those conversations have already started.

“We are less than one week into the 2017 session and are already having productive, bipartisan conversations about these issues and many more of the big challenges facing our state,” Kotek said in a statement.

All committees are bipartisan, though controlled by Democrats, and Monday there were committee meetings on revenue bills and a transportation plan, along with a public meeting on pension reform. Courtney and Kotek also met privately with business and labor leaders last Friday to get them talking about revenue and spending reform.

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/02/oregons_senate_republicans_cal.html